Reply With Quote
Taking a page straight out of Sunday Morning Bible class exercises.
Sarver is a genius.
I had heard several rumors the Suns had made posters as a team building exercise because they weren't having enough "fun". I figured it was just a rumor, until I read this article:
BICKLEY ONLINE
Porter shows Suns who's in charge
There was a surprise awaiting the Suns at the end of Tuesday's practice.
It wasn't pretty.
"In the locker room!" coach Terry Porter bellowed. "Everybody!"
Off they went, silently and obediently, bracing for the conversation ahead.
It was an impressive show of authority from the new man in charge. It was prompted by a shoddy practice before the team left for New Orleans but could've been directed at any number of nuisances, from the dissenting voices in the locker room to the recent and reckless comments by Amaré Stoudemire.
It was just what this ruffled, shuffled team needed to hear, and very conveniently, it was just what the media needed to see. Hopefully this will be rock bottom, the day the 2008-09 Suns turned the corner.
"Fortunately, we have good guys and guys that like each other," point guard Steve Nash said. "So we have our chance. That's what that means."
For a team that's won 11 of 18 games, we're all enduring a severe transition period here on Planet Orange. The Suns have a losing record at home and have allowed visiting guards to post more than 40 points in successive games at US Airways Center. Stoudemire chipped in, giving the new coach a lukewarm endorsement to ESPN. With galling irony, he also has longed for the glory days of Mike D'Antoni, whom he helped kick out of town.
It's become so silly so early that owner Robert Sarver appealed to the team's sensibilities Saturday morning. It also appears Sarver was behind the 30-minute, team-building exercise where players made togetherness collages. (We all knew this was a team built on crafty veterans, didn't we?)
Unfortunately, those posters came down before Sunday's game, before the world could get a look at the results. But it's clear that Sarver wasn't happy with the commitment or the passion of his team, and by treating his players like children, he made his point very effectively.
"I think, in the grand scheme, in today's market, that if you have a job and a house, you should be happy," Sarver said.
By NBA standards, this is garden variety material, and not exactly Team Gone Wild. Nash laughed it off, saying it "happens everywhere," and mainly because we're all dealing with "a bunch of young millionaires."
But collectively, all this early drama has made Suns fans ponder the competency of their new coach. The open questioning of his offensive system was never malicious, but it undercut Porter's authority. It made him look like the wrong fit for this team.
Though Porter has shown great patience, it's essential that he wrestle control of this situation, for his perception in the locker room, the league and in the Valley. Maybe he just did.
He spoke with the team about the importance of unity and has spoken with Stoudemire privately. Porter would give no further details but admitted his Suns tenure has not gone "as smooth as I'd have liked."
Between us, this situation between Porter and Stoudemire bears watching. Stoudemire didn't back off his inflammatory words, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Suns are shopping him, and others, just in case the season becomes toxic.
Then the coach said the strangest thing. After returning from the locker room alone, Porter told the media that Nash might soon take a greater hand in this offense by controlling the ball more frequently. Nash could then create plays, shots and spacing. Effectively, it means the offense no longer starts in the post.
"It's a lot easier to control turnovers from one guy than from 12 guys," Porter said.
And then the coach tossed the window open:
"If Formula 1 isn't working, you go to Formula 2," he added.
To recap: In one busy day, Porter called his team off the court, proving who's in charge. Then he admitted the potential error of his offensive design and showed a willingness to change. It was nice to see a coach hold everyone accountable.
It's either the beginning - or the beginning of the end.
I figured everyone here would find it hilarious that Nash and Amare (and Bell) had torn the Suns locker room apart so much that the coach and owner had them do arts and crafts with each other to bond. This is an old article (10 days or so), but I went to look for it after hearing several jokes about the team doing collages together. Sarver's tactics never cease to amuse.
Taking a page straight out of Sunday Morning Bible class exercises.
Sarver is a genius.
lol
Sarver is Jewish lol, I think this exercise stems from "team building exercises" in corporate America, and since Sarver thinks a basketball team should be run like a corporation, he thinks the players will benefit from this exercises, even though they don't even work in corporations, they're stupid to begin with.
How pre-kindergarten can one team get? Considering that Shaq is on the team, that is an exercise that a big kid, like him, would thoroughly enjoy.
Hand painted turkeys!!!!
i'm pretty sure the whole point was to make the players aware that they're acting like children.
This reminds me of that scene in the do entary about Metallica where the psychologist goes around the studio and hangs little signs with positive messages.
It never ceases to amaze me how clueless Amare is. He just spent the whole summer & autumn offering up quotes to the press about how he couldn't progress as a defender because D'Antoni never emphasized D.Stoudemire chipped in, giving the new coach a lukewarm endorsement to ESPN. With galling irony, he also has longed for the glory days of Mike D'Antoni, whom he helped kick out of town.
Thank you Tully glad I wasn't the only person who noticed that. After the Suns get eliminated because once again he falls apart in the 2nd half of games and can't play defense, he throws D'antoni under the bus and insinuates D'antoni is the reason he can't rebound or play defense. D'antoni made a perfect little jab back at him through his interview with the NY post, he said something like, "If not for that game 1 the Suns probably win the series and I'm still coach. Someone was supposed to switch out on that Finley three but didn't," and of course D'antoni knows that "someone" is Amare, similar to when Phil Jackson mispronounced Leon Powe's name.
But back to the point, he goes from throwing D'antoni under the bus and using the butt fetish he and Sarver share with one another to get D'antoni run out of town, to now hating on his new coach, the coach who he needed to "elevate" his game, and saying he wants D'antoni back. Every time someone leaves the Suns, aMarE gives plenty of quotes about how that person was limiting his game. Now that Sarver has followed up all of his requests, he's got no more scapegoats for why he can't average double double.
It's pretty hard for an owner to tell players to act like men when he wore a chicken costume to a game and did the chicken dance during a timeout. I'm still disgusted by the fact that man gets my money every time I buy a ticket.
Beware the 2008-2009 Phoenix Suns.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHa that's hilarious!Beware the 2008-2009 Phoenix Suns.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
